“I will finish the year”: Maverick Vinales responds to KTM exit rumours
Maverick Vinales has responded to reports suggesting he will be replaced at KTM for the second half of the current MotoGP season.
After reports emerged suggesting he would be dropped by KTM for the remainder of the 2026 MotoGP season, Maverick Vinales has issued a contrary response.
The rumours of Vinales’ early departure from Red Bull KTM Tech3 ahead of the British MotoGP on 7–9 August were first reported today (2 August) by Motorsport.com.
The report said that KTM would replace him with Pol Espargaro as a result of the combination of Vinales’ ongoing shoulder injury and the tension that has emerged between the rider and KTM, as well as between him and Tech3 CEO Guenther Steiner, who has spoken previously of his desire to have an all-new rider line-up for the 2027 MotoGP season, meaning Vinales would be left without a MotoGP ride for next year.
But Vinales says the reports are false, saying that he will finish this season in MotoGP “as my contract says”.
“I start to read articles without sense,” Maverick Vinales wrote in an Instagram story.
“Last week I've been in the APC [Red Bull Athlete Performance Centre] center and we start to understand why I'm not able to recover.
“I'm contrasting all this information with my doctors to check if this is the problem and what is the way to improve.
“Stop writing stupid articles about me, I will not race in SBK and I will finish the year as my contract says.”
Crash.net contacted KTM with regards to the rumours, but has not yet had a response.
Assuming Vinales does finish this season, his future beyond the end of November is no less certain. KTM is understood to have been in talks with Luca Marini over a Tech3 seat for 2027 since the Dutch Grand Prix at Assen, while both Manuel Gonzalez and Senna Agius have also been linked with the French team.
Alex joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having covered consumer and racing motorcycle news at Visordown for two years.
